05/18/23 Thurs - MAW/Patton Elementary WALKATHON - Arlington Heights

[River]

Event: Make-A-Wish Fundraiser at Patton Elementary's Walk-A-Thon
Date: Thursday, May 18th 2023
Venue: Patton Elementary - Outdoor event
Address: 1616 N. Patton Ave. Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Event Time: 4pm to 5:30pm
Money Raised: $10,000.00
Hours Volunteered: 1.5 hours
Members Participating:
501st:
Jesse Gomez - 40215 (This was his initial Troop) - Darth Vader
Greg Ladle - 28101 - Gammorean Guard
Sean (Grandmasteryoda - 37567 - Jedi/RL
Rex - 3499 - Boba Fett
Pete Siegal - 91254 - Tie Pilot
Ivy - Pete's daughter - CDZ-5866 - Jawa - Galactic Academy
River - 3166 - EvCo - Resistance Pilot/RL

The Midwest Garrison and The Nar Shaddaa Base were asked to participate in Patton Elementary's Fundraiser, by the Make-A-Wish organization. Each year this school raises over $10K for MAW. We were overjoyed to participate and support the kids in their endeavor.

Jesse Gomez was our Vader for this troop, but most importantly he decided to make this his first official troop as a member of the 501st Legion. I was impressed with Jesse's patience and kindness toward the children, immediately. Jesse is an amazing addition to our group and I'm looking forward to future troops with him! Welcome aboard Jessee.

Greg Ladle is always a welcomed addition to any troop and the kids are so enthralled with his Gammorean Guard costume. Many were curious if it was real or not!

Sean/AKA Yoda, made sure everyone was ok in the heat (thankful for that breeze) and assisted the teachers when their Chewbacca cut out was falling apart. His friendly and welcoming presence helped calm some of the kids that were nervous to approach some of our masked characters.

Rex - Always a character himself, interacted and encouraged the kids to have fun with us while posing or while they were asking 'intersting' questions to us. Rex's energy was very addictive and the kids just went right along with it.

Pete came even though it was his birthday, and participated in this troop. How cool is that when someone wants to spend their birthday trooping for an amazing cause and an amazing school. our "pilot selfie' is legendary. Don't let either of our organizations get wind of that! LOL

Ivy (Pete's daughter) joined in on the fun and was the most interactive with the kids, walking out into crowds and popping up behind kids and adults shouting her adorable Jawa cries. Kids would ask her questions and they would get a Jawa answer in response. So many laughs and photographic moments were had with Ivy!

Overall, the entire staff at Patton was very happy with our attendance, their organizer sent a "Thank you" email:

"River,
Thank you SO much for a wonderful afternoon! The kids were buzzing about the Star Wars characters and they
were the talk of the walk. I hope all of your crew enjoyed the experience!

Tim - Patton Elementary"

The people i've mentioned above make trooping fun but we really made it fun for the kids!
-River

[Runnin'6712]

ToD updated. Congratulations to Jesse for his first troop! Awesome job!